A City of Mandurah council candidate has shrugged off hateful, xenophobic comments on his Facebook page, saying he will instead be putting all his energy into meeting people and proving he has the answers to the region’s problems.

Ahmed Zilani, a computer engineer from Meadow Springs, decided to run for council to lobby for the long-awaited Lakelands train station and to support the federal government’s proposal to drug test Mandurah job seekers.

But instead of the policies he is standing for, Mr Zilani’s religion has been the focus of Facebook commenters.

One man wrote: “Are you kidding me. If this f**k is a Muslim f**k it off”, with another responding, “Amen to that”.

Another wrote: “Well they will infiltrate the system and then change everything so I suggest you whiteys get up off your a***s now”.

Along with an emoji of a pig’s face, another wrote: “Next thing we’ll be having prayers played 5 times a day throughout Mandurah on a p.a. system”.

Mr Zilani said he also had election yard signs he placed around the city removed over the weekend.